A Faithful Christmas
by hsm753
Summary: Shawn and Hunter remember one Christmas Eve night that changed their lives forever. Two-Shot.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Daddy can we put some money in the Red Kettle?"

Hunter smiled and looked down at his daughter, whose eyes were gleaming in the dim sunlight. Her breath floated out of her mouth from exhaustion in white clouds like that of smoke.

"Sure honey," He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a few dollar bills. "Here. Take your sisters with you and be careful."

"Okay, Daddy."

As Aurora quickly walked over to her sisters, laughing, they slowly managed to approach a man in a Santa suit ringing a small bell and looking around at the people passing by him. Hunter shook his head and watched as the girls took turns putting money into the red kettle and thanking the man, who thanked them back and continued to shout and ring the bell, his head turning this way and that.

Hunter slowly approached his children and said, "All right, girls, we better get home. Your Mom's going to worry about us if we don't get back in time for dinner."

"Why does the man wear Santa's clothes when Santa lives at the North Pole?" Aurora asked.

"I don't know, honey. Maybe he borrowed them."

The girls laughed and quickly grabbed hands, walking side by side together so they wouldn't get lost in the crowds. Hunter smiled and thought about how, as a young boy, he used to think about Santa's Reindeer and how they were any different from regular Deer. They had antlers, yes, but most Deer couldn't fly. He quickly snapped out of his thoughts when the ringing of the bell became loud in his ears as they passed.

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Does Santa collect the money that people give to the Red Kettles?"

"No," Hunter shook his head. "He lets the nice people give the money to needy kids and families all over the world."

"Why?"

"Because most families need it, otherwise they could go hungry and stuff."

Aurora nodded her head and quickly gripped one of her sister's hands as they came across a big group of people passing them by, some of them looking at magazines and there phones. Hunter looked down at his girls and a smile draped across his face as he quickly grabbed the remains of some money in his pockets and dropped it in the Red Kettle just as the people were clear.

"Merry Christmas." Hunter said.

The Man in the Santa suit smiled and quickly said, "Merry Christmas."

A few minutes later, Hunter and the girls quickly made it to their car and opened the car door. Hunter made sure the girls were safely in the car and quickly turned the keys, the ignition starting immediately. He wiped the few bits of snow off the windows and drove onto the street.

Hunter kept an eye on the road and watched the other cars as they passed lanes and slowing down from the sleet in the roads. He listened carefully to his surroundings, but couldn't help but hear the girls whispering in the backseat. He smiled and continued driving, hoping to catch a few words of their conversation.

Just as he was about to slow down and hit the turn signal, he noticed something in the distance. Something he couldn't believe was still around.

He quickly came to a stop and made sure the other cars behind him did the same thing. He sighed and looked over towards that something. He took a deep breath when he recognized the bright bed light gleaming outside the fog covered windows and the front door still in tact with an Open sign hanging from a needle and rope. Big clouds of smoke could be seen in the distance, even when rain or snow clouds hung overhead. It was almost as if he could smell the food and wine again, coming back to him with a taste on his tongue. And the sign. The sign was still the same, the red and green words still there. It read, _Mango's_.

"Daddy, the light's green." Aurora said.

"Oh."

Hunter slowly brought his foot down on the gas peddle and looked forward, driving the rest of the way back home. He couldn't help but think about that place. That one place where he used to spend nights with his friends and get to know some of the people there.

Other times, he sat alone pondering about his career. Where he needed some time to think.

* * *

><p><strong>2002. Christmas Eve.<strong>

Hunter sipped a little of hot coffee and cleared his throat, looking around at the people sitting at tables and laughing or talking to one another. Some of them were in groups, others were alone, but couples were sitting there talking to each other. He watched as one elderly man kissed an older woman's hand, lifting his head up to smile and looked in the woman's eyes, which looked happy as she smiled and placed the man's hand on her cheek. Hunter smiled and slowly looked away, hoping not to draw attention to the couple.

"Congratulations are in order, my friend." Road Dogg Jessie James said as he sat down across the table, smiling.

"What for?" Hunter said, gripping the coffee cup.

"Well, it's a new year and a new bride for you."

"Bride?"

"You want to get married, don't you?"

Hunter sighed. He had been seeing this girl awhile now and didn't know how to please her. All she did was whine about her day, talk all night to her friends on the phone, and sleep in another room because she didn't want to commit too fast. The best thing about her was the way she looked at him and kissed him before he went out to his matches.

"I don't know," Hunter said slowly. "I'm not into marriage right now. Why? Are you getting married?"

"Heaven's no, man, I-I don't know if I want to get married. I'll just stay in relationships the rest of my life."

"Seems fair to me."

Hunter sipped his coffee again and tried to think of other things besides marraige, matches, or just life in general. Just sitting at Mango's eating a few steaks and drinking some coffee was soothing enough.

"Billy and I were thinking about teaming up again."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, we got some things to talk over with Vince first," Jessie stopped talking when he saw a waitress bring over a plate of steak and set it down in front of him. "Thank you. Anyway, I was hoping you'd reconsider your decision to win the Royal Rumble."

"Why?"

"I think maybe Vince wants you to win so he can show his Daughter how good a man you are." Hunter took a deep breath. "Sure."

"I think it would do you some good since you've been working nonstop the past few weeks."

"Thanks, but it's already been settled. I want to win the Royal Rumble and take a shot at the Championship at WrestleMania."

"Why the Championship?"

Hunter shrugged as he watched his friend eat a piece of steak off a fork and drink a few sips of soda. The one thing he really wanted was for everyone to leave him alone, but it seemed impossible when everyone around him would talk about his chances of winning and going on to WrestleMania. Not to mention his past being brought up almost every week.

"I think it'd be nice to win something than to prove something."

Jessie nodded his head and, with a mouth full of steak, said, "Good advice."

Hunter looked at his lap for a few minutes, thinking about what happened on New Year's Day with his girlfriend. All she wanted was to talk and spend time with her friends. Laughing about things that didn't seem worth mentioning. He thought it was funny how, a few years ago, all he wanted to do every day was hang out with his friends despite having more important things to do.

"Oh, boy." Jessie's voice seemed uneasy.

"What?"

"Look who's here."

Jessie pointed a few seconds over Hunter's shoulder, his face stern as he continued chewing on his steak. Hunter looked over and saw the same old people sitting at tables and talking, as well as the waitress's giving out orders and smoothing down their short skirts.

Then, he noticed a few people walking into the restaurant, their faces happy, but as soon as the crowd dispersed, Hunter suddenly realized he was staring at someone who he thought could never show his face again. With his long hair and neatly pressed clothes, Shawn didn't seem all that happy as he sat down at a table far away from the man staring back at him.

Hunter turned around slowly, his blood boiling beneath his trembling skin.

"I see you've noticed." Jessie said, picking up a glass of soda.

"You didn't have to bother telling me."

"What happened between you two, anyway?"

Hunter clenched his fists. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on, Hunter, you should at least say something to him."

"No, thanks."

"Don't you two have some things to catch up on?"

Hunter looked at Jessie, staring him down, and watched as his friend put his hands in front of him briefly and lowered his head. Hunter sighed and quickly looked over his shoulder, staring at Shawn, wanting to see what he could do to embarrass himself. He watched Shawn stare down at the floor, his arms resting on the table, looking like something happened to make him seem depressed. Hunter smiled at that, but quickly turned around when he saw Shawn's head snap up.

"So...what you getting your girl for Christmas?"

"I got her a pair of earrings she had her eye on." Hunter sighed, then smiled. "You got to see Shawn. He's losing it."

Jessie cleared his throat and looked at Shawn, seeing his body relaxed and his eyes staring back at the two men. Shawn looked like he wanted to say something, but kept swallowing and soon looked back down at the floor.

"Yeah, he's losing it alright," Jessie said, looking back at Hunter. "He's losing a friend he thought he could trust."

"He didn't care about our friendship. He wanted the fame, he got the fame, and pretty soon it all became too much to handle for him. That's all."

Jessie watched Hunter's eyes. How angry they looked when he talked about Shawn.

"Seems like he didn't know how to handle the fame and friends at the same time, but he always wanted something to do with you."

Hunter shook his head, smiling. "You don't get it. He blamed me for everything, even when I tried to help him. What kind of friend is that?"

"He couldn't help himself. Once that stuff gets to you, everything seems like your fault. So...you try to fix it the only way you know how."

Hunter sipped some coffee and set the cup down. "And you know what that's like?"

"Yes."

Hunter paused and slowly sighed, trying to make sense of Jessie's conversation. He wanted to try to help Shawn, but Shawn never wanted help. Only one time Shawn ever asked him for help, and that ended up a disaster. Now, all he wanted was to keep his new friends safe and let the old one's come crawling back. He would never accept Shawn's apology. Ever.

"He looks like he's on something." Jessie said, chewing slowly, darting his eyes towards Shawn.

"That's what it does to you."

Jessie sighed and slowly said, "Come on, man. It's almost Christmas. At least say something to him so-"

"So he can blame me for something again, huh?"

"No," Jessie said. "So you two can put it all your problems in the past."

Hunter stood up slowly and threw a napkin on the table. He looked at Jessie, who seemed uneasy, and clenched his fists.

"Shawn is my past."

Then, Hunter slowly walked away from the table, past the oncoming people, and past Shawn, who stared at the floor with just catching Hunter's shadow moving across the floor.

* * *

><p>Hours later, Hunter began to smirk slightly as he lifted another bottle to his lips, feeling the cold liquid pour down his throat. He wiped remaining drops off his chin and looked around, seeing just a few people were left in the restaurant. He tried to check his watch, but his arm didn't move up so he decided to look at the bartender.<p>

"H-How much time is it?"

The bartender looked at the man and said, "We close in about an hour."

Hunter nodded his head and laughed. "Did you see the look on that man's face?"

"What man?" The bartender wiped a cloth on a wet plate.

"The man at the t-table over there."

Hunter found the strength to lift up his hand and point over towards a set of tables, one of which still sat a lonely Shawn.

"I'd leave that beer alone for awhile."

The bartender stretched out his hand and tried to take the bottle away from Hunter, but Hunter snatched the bottle away from his grasp and drunk some more out of it. After two gulps, the bottle slowly felt light and the bartender shook his head.

Hunter placed the bottle on the counter and said, "Give me another."

"You've had enough. Now get out before I call security."

Hunter growled under his breath and slowly stood up, taking in the words, stumbling and reaching out to grab on to an object. He managed to grab on to a stool and slowly walked upright towards the exit. All sorts of colors passed him as he noticed the exit sign in the far corner, walking past empty tables and seeing a few people talking nearby.

He almost felt like he was a few steps close to the exit when he heard a sound.

"Hey, Hunter."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Hot! Hot!"

Shawn quickly placed a pan of cookies on the counter and shook his hand from the heat off the pan. Once he finished doing that, he walked over to the sink and turned the handle, watching the water come out of the pipe and placing his hand under it. As soon as the cold water trickled over his hand, he sighed and grabbed a nearby towel. He turned the handle again and wiped the soft towel on his hand.

He looked over and saw that the cookies were okay, then gripped the towel in his hand and grabbed the hot pan, quickly moving it over so it wouldn't fall off the counter top. The cookies were filled with chocolate chips and covered over with sprinkles and decorations made from filling.

"Are you okay?" A voice asked.

Shawn looked over and saw Rebecca looking over at him with a cake topper in her hand. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"You should've worn an oven mit."

"I did, but-"

"But you want to, right?"

Shawn smiled a little and watched as his wife placed the cake topper down easily on the chocolate cake laying in the middle of the table. It was a yearly tradition to eat cake on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. But since Christmas wasn't but two days away, Shawn decided to make some cookies for his kids and let them decorate the cookies with anything they want. As soon as she heard the snaps of the cake holder, Rebecca quickly walked over to Shawn and kissed him on the lips.

"Is your hand okay?"

"Yeah."

Shawn kissed his wife back and watched as she grabbed a red oven mit and gripped the pan of cookies, still warm inside, and walked over towards the table and set the pan down gently. She slowly removed the oven mit from her arm and smiled.

"Now was that so hard?" She asked.

"No," Shawn said, walking over towards her. "I guess not."

Rebecca slowly sighed and said, "Where are Cheyenne and Cameron?"

"I think they're outside."

Shawn walked over towards the window and looked outside it, but decided to look down towards the sink and began to wash dishes. Rebecca had been cooking a lot of food for the big day.

Rebecca watched her husband and slowly put her arms around his chest, kissing his cheek as Shawn grabbed her hands with his own and smiled.

"Remember when we first met?"

"Yeah," Shawn said, slowly rubbing his wife's arm. "Of course I remember."

"You had cowboy boots on, your shirt was brown, and you had blue jeans on."

"Why did you metion the jeans last?"

"They made you look like a southern gentleman."

"Seems fair," Shawn said, smiling a little, wondering why he even chose to wear those tight jeans to begin with. "I think you wore a black shirt and...and..."

"Blue jeans and blue heels."

"Yes," Shawn began to sweat a little. "That's what you wore, I think."

"Sure."

Rebecca unwrapped her arms around her husband and quickly walked back over towards the kitchen table, grabbing a cookie, and biting a piece off of it.

She giggled a little when she looked up and saw the Christmas tree over in the corner of the living room with ornaments dangling off the branches. On top of the tree was the angel that remained the tree topper for as long as she could remember.

Shawn continued to wash dishes, feeling the water turn hot every now and then, and started to think about all the things he had left to do before Christmas arrived. First he had to think of a way to get the presents in the house so the kids wouldn't see them, then he had to adjust the angel on the tree since she now began to lean over towards the floor. Not to mention sending his gift to Hunter this year, which was already wrapped under the Christmas tree.

Soon, as he quickly washed a cup, he realized something wasn't quite right about the conversation with his wife. Why did she bring up the moment, the day, rather, when they first met?

Shawn looked over his shoulder and saw his wife looking over at the Christmas tree, then smiled and continued to wash the dishes.

"You were wearing a white shirt and blue jeans with brown heels." He said.

Rebecca turned around and looked at her husband, smiling. "Good save, Shawn."

* * *

><p>Later that night, Shawn slowly opened the mailbox and gripped the present in his hand, slowly placing it inside and sealing the handle on the mailbox shut. He shivered as he felt the cold air around him, quickly walking up the sidewalk and opening the front door. Once he made it inside, feeling warm air at last, he slowly turned around and closed the door, then locked it and made sure the outside light was on. He grabbed his coat and took it off, then walked over towards the coat rack and placed it on the handle.<p>

Shawn walked over towards the kitchen and grabbed a cookie off the table, since he let his wife and children have the first few cookies, and liked the taste of it. He waited for his chance to eat some of them before they all could eat the cake tomorrow afternoon. The house seemed quiet despite the ringing of the clocks echoing throughout the living room. When Shawn approached the living room, he sighed and hoped Hunter would like his present.

They mostly gave each other Christmas cards every year, but since their friendship lasted nearly twenty years, Shawn thought he would do something nice for his friend this year. After all, the two had been through a lot together. Whether it was laughing about the new jokes they planned for the night, helping each other in the gym, or trying to put on a show for the fans every night, they always found ways to make their friendship work. Vince always said it was hard to make friends when your on the road with them all the time, thinking you could snap every bone on a weekly basis or get caught up with your personal life you forget about your Wrestling life.

Most of the time, it wasn't personal for Shawn at all. At least not at first.

* * *

><p><strong>2002. Christmas Eve.<strong>

Shawn looked down at the plate in front of him, sighing as he began to think about all he heard from Hunter. That one sentence was all he needed to hear. All he wanted Hunter to say and everything would be fine between them.

_"Shawn is my past."_

But it also hurt Shawn to hear those words. All that time Shawn had thought Hunter would've been joking, but he knew Hunter better than anyone else. He wasn't going to say something if he didn't mean it.

He watched Hunter stumbling across the floor, his face stern, angry. If only there was a better way to calm his emotions.

Who was he kidding?

Shawn sighed and realized he was thinking about himself. All those times he accused Hunter of not being there for him, even though he was, and never apologized for any mistakes he made towards his former friend, it really hurt to even mention his past. The pills. The drinking. It hurt.

Shawn slowly glanced his eyes towards Hunter, who almost got kicked out, and sighed. Looking at his friend suffering like this all because of him.

"Hey, Hunter." He said, his voice raspy.

He watched as Hunter slowly turned around, his eyes glazed upon him. He stumbled around before finding his balance and quickly said, "Yeah, what?"

"I wanted to say thank you."

"F-For what?"

"Just thank you," Shawn could tell Hunter's legs were about to give out on him, trying to find their balance again. "Sit down."

"No thanks," Hunter said, smiling a little. "I wouldn't sit next to you if you were the only guy left to talk to in one-hundred years."

"Fine." Shawn whispered.

Shawn's hands trembled, but he remained calm as he watched his former friend stumble across the room and trying to find the exit. He felt angred by Hunter's remarks, but what could he expect. He diserved this after everything he put Hunter through.

"And you know what, Shawn? It doesn't matter how many times you crawl back. I will never forgive you."

"Okay."

"Okay? Is that all you gonna say, Shawn? Huh? Is that all? Nothing will ever be okay between us."

Shawn lowered his eyes. "I understand."

Hearing Hunter's footsteps across the floor made something inside Shawn snap.

"At least I can drive home."

"What?"

Shawn looked up and saw Hunter's confused face looking at his. "You heard me."

"Well," Hunter smiled. "At least I didn't go to the trouble of coming here knowing my past would've been."

"I'm not your past, Hunter. I'm your friend."

"No friend of mine would turn their back on me, Shawn. No friend of mine."

"Not Kevin? Not Scott or Kid? They don't even talk to me much anymore."

"Good."

Shawn sighed. "Please sit down."

"Oh, sure, I'll take orders from a pill addict."

Shawn watched as Hunter began to turn back around and stumble some more across the tables, Shawn quickly came to the conclusion that Hunter didn't care much anymore.

"All I wanted was to set things right with you."

Hunter looked over his shoulder. "Where's your pill bottle, Shawn? Maybe you could spare a few for me."

Shawn's blood boiled and, out of anger, quickly stood up and grabbed Hunter's arm, pulling him down into a seat nearby.

"Ow. What the...?"

Shawn sat down on the other side and breathed heavily as he stared at Hunter's face.

"All I ever did was blame you for everything. The matches, the injuries, everything. I couldn't help myself because I thought everything was my fault. So I blamed you and I felt bad about that every single time I laid down at night. Ever since then I've found something better than pills. Something better than guilt. But you don't care about how I turned my life around because you're dwelling on the past."

Shawn's heart raced in his chest, the words pouring out of him. He could see the tension on Hunter's face. The anger. As if something about his words seemed strange, surprisingly even to himself.

"So...that's all you have to say?" Hunter asked, his eyes weary.

Shawn tensed up, but quickly released his tension and said, "Yes, and I hope you and I become friends again."

Hunter looked at Shawn, seeing his eyes staring down at him, and slowly sighed. "It's not that easy, Shawn. What was I

supposed to believe? That you were all better from some miracle?"

The two men looked at each other, one angry, the other understanding.

"You believe I'm better?" Shawn said.

Hunter took a deep breath, looking over Shawn. His face seemed better, smarter even. His hands didn't tremble like they used to, nor did his body look sick. He had to come to terms with his past, but not the past he wanted to forget. He wanted to remember something special from his past...and it was right in front of him all along.

"Yes, I think you look better than ever."

* * *

><p>Shawn smiled to himself as he looked at the Christmas tree, remembering all the times he helped his children but the decorations and angel on it. He quickly realized the angel was slightly crooked and walked over towards the tree, grabbing the angel, and fixing her a little.<p>

He looked at the angel's face and body, its gold dress and white halo glowing in the dim light. Shawn twisted the angel to look at the angel's feet, thinking it could be the ends that cause the angel to lean over. When he looked over the feet carefully, he noticed something engraved on the bottom of the left foot.

It read:

_I love you, Rebecca, and I always will._

Shawn smiled brightly, reading over the words. He gave the angel to Rebecca on their first Christmas together. As soon as he finished reading the words over and over, he placed the angel back on top of the tree, this time making sure it didn't lean over.

He walked over towards the kitchen counter and checked a few things before gazing upon a envelope. He looked over at it and picked it up, reading the front. It was addressed to him. He opened the envelope and pulled out a small card. He looked at the front, which had a picture of a Snowman waving at the people passing by him with a scarf around its neck sitting in the snow. Shawn smiled and opened the card, which read:

_Dear Shawn, You still look better than ever. Thanks for making me realize all those years ago you weren't my past, but my best friend. I will sit with you for many years to come. Merry Christmas._

Shawn smiled and read the words closely, feeling a warmth all over his body. Then, he realized something about the card. Something strange that made him chuckle under his breath.

"We picked the same cards again."

**The End. Merry Christmas.**


End file.
